Chapter 399 Maxim
Chapter 399 Maxim
Under the watchful eyes of the public, not only did the Maxim brothers' patent invention get adopted, but they were also taken away on the spot by Shao Quanzhong who suddenly appeared. Some people who followed to watch the fun saw the two brothers being led directly into the Haoguozi Company by Shao Quanzhong.
After waiting for a long time, public news came that Maxim had joined the Haoguozi Company with an annual salary of five thousand taels of silver.
The morale of the inventors was suddenly high. Wow, another lucky guy appeared, he was spotted by Prince Rui, and joined the world's strongest arsenal, with the treatment of a prince, the pinnacle of life.
We are all in the same industry, so we also have hope. If this invention doesn’t work, we can go back and continue thinking about it.
In the R&D department of Haoguozi Company, Maxim was appointed as the expert leader of R&D Group 5. He had more than a dozen senior professional technicians under him, and experts in lathes, clamps, washing, planing and grinding were all available.
You can use the company's most advanced equipment at will, and you can also apply for customized special molds without any financial restrictions.
With such good scientific research conditions, it should be difficult to carry out research projects, right? Not at all.
It’s not that the research project is easy, it’s that someone provides preliminary technical information.
Shao Quanzhong personally drew the final assembly perspective view and detachable parts view on site, but it lacked the internal structure and design principles.
However, Shao Quanzhong put forward the design requirements for a fully automatic machine gun.
We all know what requirements are to be made, and there are also appearance drawings and parts drawings. It seems that any designer can do it. Maxim is really lucky.
Actually, that’s not the case. Without internal structure and design principles, it still takes some thought to realize the functions proposed by Shao Quanzhong. Most people cannot do it without creative talent.
As it happens, Maxim is a genuine creative genius, and he is already 33 years old, the same age as Shao Quanzhong. He is already a mature inventor with rich experience and a complete knowledge system.
Maxim said that with so many prerequisites given by Shao Quanzhong, if he couldn't make the Maxim machine gun, he would just kill himself.
Shao Quanzhong was very familiar with this thing. Until 1928, it was still the Fengtian Army's main firepower weapon. Shao Quanzhong could disassemble and assemble it with his eyes closed.
Weapons are the lifeblood of warlords. Shao Quanzhong's enthusiasm for touching the Maxim machine gun is more... ahem, anyway, he was quite enthusiastic.
Maxim and his brother went to design machine guns happily. Ren Jun quietly pulled him aside and said, "Brother Shao, you are too careless. You brought Brother Maxim to the Good Fruit Company in such a high-profile manner and made his appointment public."
"If the automatic machine gun you asked him to design can really meet the parameters you mentioned, it will be a deadly weapon that will change the war mode. Shouldn't we hide it and suddenly take it out when the time comes to gain a strategic advantage?"
Shao Quanzhong smiled meaningfully, "Not only should we make a big fanfare, but once the machine gun is designed, we should also advertise it heavily, publicly compare its shooting effect with the Gatling manual machine gun, and sell it to various countries."
Shao Quanzhong patted Ren Jun on the shoulder and said, "I'm telling you, brother, it doesn't mean that all weapons have to be hidden. They have to obey the strategic goal."
“What strategic goal?”
"Why would you, an arms dealer, ask about this? When the time comes, just buy your machine guns and prepare to make a fortune."
"But in fact, you can't make much money. Small countries will definitely buy more, and developed industrialized countries like Britain, the United States, France and Germany will definitely use them to imitate."
Shao Quanzhong laughed loudly, "Imitate as much as you want. The more the better. By then, there will be millions of British and German beauties who can't find husbands. Ren Jun, you can also pick two blonde beauties as concubines."
Ren Jun thought for a long time before he understood what Shao Quanzhong meant. "Brother Shao, you have a really dark heart."
"Hehe, holding a sharp weapon, the desire to kill is naturally rising. If we don't let them get more powerful weapons, how can they be eager to try and fight?"
After leaving Haozizi Company, Shao Quanzhong took the initiative to go to Xiaoxiangya Science Academy for the first time.
"Old Mac, do you know any great chemists?"
"Your Highness, you have the wrong person. You should go to Nobel for this matter."
By the way, Nobel seems to be useless, and he is still a parasite with his high salary, while his company is making a lot of money. Shao Quanzhong did not dare to go to Nobel's laboratory, so he invited him to the administrative office of the Academy of Sciences, "Old Nobel, I have a new project for you, but you don't have to do it alone. You can get more chemists from various countries to work together, and you will definitely benefit as the leader."
Nobel was very familiar with this. He was not a scientist who fought alone. Like Edison, he had to form a team and drink the blood of researchers.
Nobel happily signed a confidentiality agreement with Shao Quanzhong. One project cost one million silver dollars, and Shao Quanzhong also gave a hint, nitrate smokeless gunpowder, the main material is known, just what solution to use for the back and forth test, it must contain nitrate.
Then test various ratios with gunpowder, pick the one that works best, and you’re done.
With a goal in mind, chemical research becomes pure physical work. You can always figure it out by trying it a few thousand times. If that doesn't work, hire more people and you can make money by trying it tens of thousands of times.
Smokeless gunpowder is actually more important than Maxim. Without smokeless gunpowder, Maxim can only replace two or three Gatling machine guns, with a maximum range of more than 2,000 meters and a direct effective range of 300 to 400 meters. It is not a weapon that can defeat the gods.
Once smokeless gunpowder is available, the Maxim gun's rate of fire can suddenly reach 600 rounds per minute, and it can hit more than 6,000 meters. It is a real killing weapon.
Moreover, because of their strong kinetic energy, the caliber of all rifles and pistols can be reduced, the bullets can be made thinner, the accuracy can be improved, and the killing efficiency can be greatly increased. All weapons will be collectively taken to a higher level.
Three months later, the Maxim machine gun was successfully finalized, with gunpowder-powered fully automatic loading, 333-round ammunition fed by a 6.4-meter-long canvas bag, a water-cooled barrel, an average firing rate of rounds per minute, and a theoretical maximum firing rate of rounds per minute. However, ahem, it cannot be achieved at present.
In front of military representatives from various countries, Haoguozi publicly demonstrated the shooting effect of the Gatling manual machine gun. Dr. Gatling in the Federation was so angry that he vomited blood, and the Maxim brothers who received a huge bonus were so happy that their mouths were split from their ears.
The military representatives of various countries all had their eyes shining. The Russians immediately placed a large order, and the small countries also donated generously. The representatives of Britain, France, the United States, Germany and Austria reservedly said that they would buy a few and try them out before making a decision. Everyone knew what these guys were up to.
Fuso Governor Liu Mingchuan immediately placed an order to purchase the goods. Generals Zhang and Yang in the north got the news in advance and acted earlier than Liu Mingchuan...
"Brother Shao, our Wen Group's industrial product exports have declined recently."
"Which country is so powerful that can produce industrial products with such low cost as our Qing Dynasty?"
"No, it's because the great powers have experienced an economic crisis. Due to excessive investment in railways and slow recovery of costs, many railway companies have gone bankrupt, and the number of unemployed people in various countries has increased greatly."
"It's okay. As long as we can still make money, we will continue to expand the industry even if we sell less."
Shao Quanzhong knew this. The long depression that began in 1873 had begun. The overheating of the world economy caused by the Industrial Revolution had finally come to an end. This long depression lasted into the next century in history until the outbreak of World War I.
"To reduce unemployment, countries are now starting to develop armaments on a large scale, with more and more tanks, armored vehicles and weapons being produced."
Well, the situation is not quite the same as in history...
"The financial giants had nowhere to invest their funds. The stock market was getting hotter and hotter. Rubber stocks continued to rise, increasing several times. We made a lot of money."
"I understand this. When the village is doing well, everyone goes to work in the fields. When the years are bad, they gather at the entrance of the village to gamble."
"Report, Haiqing from Beijing called."
"Second brother, the young emperor took over the government and worked hard for two days, and then he started hanging out with Duoluo Beile Zaicheng again."
"He granted Zaicheng the title of Prince and allowed him to walk in the inner court. He secretly went out with Zaicheng. Recently, he has gone even further, claiming that he wanted to repay the kindness of the two Empress Dowagers and ordered the reconstruction of the Old Summer Palace. It seems to me that he just wants to enjoy himself. Second brother, don't you want to do anything about it?"
Shao Quanzhong smiled after reading it, "Maria, call Haiqing back and tell him to stop meddling in other people's business. Is it our business as subjects to intervene in what the emperor wants to do? Just keep an eye on Jiliang."
Since the emperor took power, Shao Quanzhong never submitted a memorial to the emperor's memorial. He stayed in Hailing honestly and never interfered in state affairs again.
Even though the emperor was stubborn, with Zhang Zhidong, the chief minister, making decisions, the Qing court still ran smoothly. The land of our great Qing was thriving and prosperous.
(End of this chapter)